Bafana will not release Chiefs stars

[Posted 11 May 2011][By Brighton Mupangavanhu]

Bafana Bafana camp has revealed that the Kaizer Chiefs trio of Tshabalala, Reneilwe Letsholonyane and keeper Itumeleng Khune will remain with the national team, despite an earlier request by Chiefs Manager Bobby Motaung to have the players released from camp.

Bafana are due to travel to Dar-es-Salaam for a friendly date with hosts Tanzania on 14 May. Motaung, having learnt of the fact that Ajax Cape Town successfuly withheld their players from the Bafana camp, requested SAFA earlier this week to return the Chiefs trio.

Ajax had applied to SAFA in advance to be allowed not to release their three players given the maginitude of the ABSA Premiership last round of league matches on 21 May which will determine who wins the title among the trio of Chiefs, Ajax and Orlando Pirates.

The PSL trio is currently neck to neck and no winner could not be confirmed by the 29th league matches played last weekend.

With that in mind, Ajax successfully applied to SAFA for a right to withhold their key players. Since the match falls outside FIFA sanctioned dates for friendly matches, the club had the right not to release players for national team duty.

"We requested the SA Football Association to return players because we have an important match next week," Motaung said in a statement on the side's website.

"Ajax have been granted this request, we hope that Safa will also be fair to us and release the players," he added.

Kaizer Chiefs' request for the release of the trio, key players for both club and country, came as an after thought.

It surely should be late for coach Pitso Mosimane now to juggle around the squad if he is to lose Tshabalala, Lethsolonyane and Khune.

Bafana camp insist the trio is going nowhere and will travel with the rest of the squad to Tanzania.

"They (the players) are here The three players are in squad and they will be travelling to Tanzania," said Bafana media officer Matlhomola Morake.